The Heir of Voldemort
by poetanddidntknowit34
Summary: Zyla Bellatrix Malfoy was born an unusual child, but when she finds out what makes her so unique, everyone she loves could be in danger.
1. Chapter 1

The Dark Lord sat deep in thought in front of his Death Eaters. All had recently been sprung from Azkaban, and all were waiting his instructions on what to do until the enchantments on The Boy's house lifted. They were all extremely nervous, because none of them knew who he was going to pick on next. But Voldemort just sat silently and stroked his huge snake, Nagini. Finally, he spoke in a calm, even tone, "I need an heir." The silence in the room got even deeper. Everyone looked around nervously, wondering if they'd just heard correctly, "I'll need someone to take my place eventually," He elaborated.

"My Lord," Bellatrix spoke up, "That is an excellent idea. And I'd be happy to help in any way possible." She batted her eyes and another Death Eater at the end of the table whispered something to his buddy and they snickered. Bella shot them a deadly look.

"Everyone leave," Voldemort said, "Except Bella, Narcissa, and Lucius." Narcissa's face went white, but Bella bounced up and down excitedly next to her. When the room had cleared out, Voldemort looked at Bellatrix for the first time that meeting, "Naturally, Bella," He stood and came to face them across the table, "You would be the first choice." Bellatrix smiled, closed her eyes, and relaxed her nervous tension. "But, you won't be the one." She snapped her eyes back open and looked thoroughly confused. Narcissa grabbed Lucius' hand under the table and gave it a nervous squeeze. "Lucius," The Dark Lord turned to look at one of his least successful Death Eaters, "You and your son have proved nothing but useless to me lately. You denied me when I fell, you failed me two years ago and was thrown into Azkaban, and your son failed to complete the one and only task I had ever given to him." Lucius winced and grabbed Narcissa's hand tighter. He could see what direction this was heading. "So, I am giving your family the opportunity to redeem yourselves in my eyes." He paused and stood tall and powerfully, "Narcissa will bear my child and that's the end of the discussion." Narcissa burst into tears and buried her face into her hands. The Dark Lord was not pleased with this reaction, "Narcissa, this upsets you? Doing the highest favor ever for your master does not please you?"

Narcissa fell silent and refused to answer the question. How could she? So Voldemort sent Lucius and Bellatrix out of the room. As soon as the doors were shut, Lucius picked up the nearest vase and smashed it on the floor. He was so angry, he punched the nearest Death Eater and Bella had to put a body-bind curse on the Death Eater to keep him from retaliating. Lucius kicked an end table and screamed at everyone to get out of his house. As soon as they were all gone, he sunk down the wall and cried silently. Draco didn't know what to make of the display. He had never seen his father cry, and he didn't know whether to comfort him, or leave him alone. But one thing he knew for sure was that whatever it was, it had to do with the fact that his mother was still in the room. So Draco just sat down next to him and was silent. Bellatrix paced in front of the doors, waiting for the opportunity to comfort her sister.

The minutes seemed to last for hours, but eventually, Voldemort emerged, shutting the doors behind him, and walked off towards the basement of the house. Bellatrix tackled and pinned Lucius who had unexpectedly sprung up from the ground and attempted to attack the Dark Lord from behind. "The thing to do is to comfort you wife right now," She hissed in his ear, "NOT attack the man who could kill you in one flick of the wand."

Lucius nodded and said, "Take Draco to Diagon Alley and buy him something. Explain to him what just happened and that he'll be getting a new sibling soon. Don't bring him back until I send for you." Bella nodded, grabbed Draco's arm before he could go into the room, and Disapparated with him on the spot. Lucius stood and walked over towards the room. The fire had gone out and it was dark. A small, quiet sobbing was coming from the corner of the room. He went over and put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Cissa?" He said quietly. Next thing he knew, Narcissa was in his arms sobbing slowly. He petted her hair and promised her everything would be ok.

Two months after the Battle of Hogwarts, the baby girl was born. Zyla Bellatrix Malfoy was definitely a rare child. As she grew, her mind developed faster than her body. She knew and understood things beyond her years. The only family member she bonded with completely was her brother, Draco. He watched over her and helped her as often as he could. Narcissa acted almost the same way to Zyla as she had to Draco when he was a kid, but Lucius, on the other hand, was distant. He was never mean to the child, but he didn't make his best effort to treat Zyla like she was his, as she believed she was.

Strange things happened in the years to come. When Zyla was five, Narcissa sent her out to play in the garden. When she came back in five minutes to check on the child, Zyla was surrounded by snakes of all shapes and sizes. Zyla giggled furiously and hugged one of the biggest snakes in the garden. Narcissa started to cry and ran inside to get Lucius. Lucius came out, picked Zyla up carefully, and brought her back inside to play dolls with Draco. Narcissa cried in her room the rest of the day.

When Zyla was seven, she got angry at her mother for taking away her toys as a punishment. Her ash grey eyes flashed red and she screamed. The glasses on the table exploded and a small incision started on Narcissa's cheekbone and started slowly making its way down her face. It didn't get very big before Draco swooped in and calmed Zyla. He explained to her that when a punishment is given, that it is proper to just except it. Zyla never threw a fit again, but Narcissa refused to do the punishing again, and Draco had to do it.

A year later when Zyla was eight, she went into Draco's room and asked him why her dad didn't like her and why her mom cried so much around her. Draco fumbled for an answer before finally explaining that Daddy was distant with relationships and was the same way when Draco was little, and that Zyla reminded Mommy of someone who was dead and it was hard to be reminded of that person. "You're lying." Zyla said in a high, even tone, just like that of her father's. Then she turned and left. Draco's Mark on his left arm tingled and he could tell Zyla was angry that he had lied to her. But how could he tell her the truth?

And so it went at Malfoy Manor. Zyla grew more like her father everyday in her demeanor and tone of voice and she was almost a kinder, but exact replica by the time she received her Hogwarts letter.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a sunnier day and the Malfoys were sitting at their long dining table having breakfast together. There was little conversation, but the tidbits of chit-chat were shut-up entirely when an owl swooped in and delivered their mail. There was business letters for Lucius, a letter from Druella Black, Narcissa's mother, for Cissa, a thick, angry-looking letter for Draco from his wife Astoria, a thick envelop with Zyla's name written in green ink on the front. Narcissa pulled Lucius into the sitting room.

"Lucius, Zyla's Hogwarts letter came in the mail today." She held the envelop out to him.

He didn't take the envelop, "So give it to her. It came a little late this year, didn't it? School starts in like, a week."

"Lucius, you give it to her. You haven't been treating her right. I know you're still upset about what happened but—"

He cut her off, "How can I not be? Everyday she's a reminder of my failure to you as your protector."

Narcissa hung her head, "I'm glad you didn't defend me and stand up to him. He would've killed you and I love you too much to let that happen. But it still doesn't change the fact that she lives here and she thinks you're her father. So you need to act like it. You're all she has and if you keep neglecting her like this, she'll grow up to be resentful. She already has the potential to be like her real father, so let's not drive her to it."

Lucius softened and took his wife into his arms. "I love you. And I promise I'll do better. I care for Zyla, I truly do, it's just to see her without remembering…" He trailed off. He hugged Narcissa tighter and kissed the top of her head. He then took the Hogwarts envelop and smiled. He walked back into the dining room and sat down in the chair next to Zyla. The calm child didn't even flinch. "Look what came in the mail, Zyla!" Lucius exclaimed, real excitement in his voice.

The child with dark hair and blond highlights, ash grey eyes that made all other colors look dull, and pale skin looked up from her breakfast. Her knowing eyes searched his face. Her face was stern, but calm when she said, "Why are being nice to me?"

Lucius was caught off guard. He didn't think she would call him out on it, "Because I love you."

She stared at him for a little bit before shrugging the comment off and taking her envelop. As she read the letter, the idle chit-chat continued. Draco commented on how Astoria was getting antsy being cooped up with Scorpius all vacation without him around, so after Zyla goes to Hogwarts, he'll go back home for the remainder of the year. Narcissa remarked about how her mother's life is going well, and that Druella wants them to visit soon. And Lucius just watched Zyla read. When she was done with every page in the stack, she set the letters aside and asked, "Are we going to get to go to Diagon Alley again?" Zyla asked. Even though she remained calm in all situations nowadays, her tone sounded slightly excited. She loved going to Diagon Alley and seeing all the wonderful things to buy and look at. The last time they were there, Narcissa got Zyla a black and purple diary with a black feather quill to write her poetry in.

"Yes, Zyla. We'll go later on today and get your school supplies." Narcissa smiled and kissed Zyla on the top of the head. A rare smile flickered onto Zyla's face. She finished her breakfast and went upstairs to her room. The walls had been painted dark purple, but to add her own touch, Narcissa let Zyla dip a paintbrush in black paint and fling paint all over the walls and right above her bed, Zyla splashed the whole bucket of paint on the wall. It looked pretty good in Zyla's mind. Her black owl, Niigleria, cooed softly in the corner of her room. Zyla picked out an outfit from her closet. She chose a simple black dress with black lace gloves and she put her hair in a pony tail. This outfit was the only hand-me-down in her closet. It had belonged to her Auntie Bellatrix when she had been Zyla's age, so it was handed down to Zyla to keep the memory going.

After she was dressed and looking the way she wanted to, Zyla rushed down the stairs to join her family in the front entryway. She grabbed tight to Draco's arm and Side-Along-Apparated with him to Diagon Alley.

The alley was bustling with activity and last-minute shoppers. The Malfoys walked towards the robe shop, ignoring anyone who tried to sell them something random. Once Zyla had been fitted for her robes and had all her books, quills, and other supplies, Lucius went to Gringotts to take out Zyla's allowance for the year. While he went and Narcissa was looking at broomsticks, Draco took Zyla to get ice cream.

Teddy Lupin was farther up the alley examining a cauldron. "Uncle Harry, please!" He begged for the eighth time.

And for the eighth time Harry Potter said, "No. Your list says pewter. You can have the solid gold one if you get an Outstanding on your O.W.L.s." Harry laughed internally. He had had almost the exact conversation with Hagrid when he was 11, "But," Harry decided to compromise with his godson just a little more, "If you don't beg me to get something after I've already said no for the rest of the day, I'll buy you something devious from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Just don't tell your Aunt Ginny."

Teddy's face lit up as he said, "Deal!" and grabbed his pewter cauldron. Harry laughed and paid for the rest of the potion supplies. He was maneuvering way out of the store when Teddy asked for ice cream. Harry gave him some money and told him to go ahead; he would wait outside for him. As Harry leaned up against a wall, his scar began to prickle. He couldn't tell why, though. It hadn't done that in the years since he defeated Voldemort. And it couldn't be because he was back, because Harry had killed him. So why was his scar prickling?

As he was thinking about it, an eleven year old girl bumped into him. She hadn't been paying attention; she was focused on her ice cream. She slammed into him and fell down. Harry turned and saw a girl with dark brown hair and chilly blond highlights stand up and brush the dirt off her black dress. She then looked up and looked Harry in the eye. His scar prickled even more. She stood with an air of power and intelligence about her and her face was calm and stern. It was almost scary.

Draco Malfoy ran up behind and scolded the girl, "Now apologize to Mr. Potter." The whole time Draco was reprimanding her about paying attention when running, she never broke the eye contact between her and Harry. And as soon as Draco said 'Potter', the ash grey eyes flashed red so quick; Harry almost felt he had imagined it.

"Sorry," The little girl said. Her voice was high and cold. It never wavered once form its calm tone. It gave Harry the chills.

"It's ok. I believe you were headed this way," Harry said as he held open the ice cream shop door. The little girl said a brief thank you in the same chilling voice and skirted inside, leaving Draco and Harry staring face to face. "Is she yours?" Harry asked.

"No, she's my sister, Zyla. Sorry she ran into you." Draco said. The relationship between the two boys was no longer hateful, but more of a mutual understanding.

"It's fine. She seems… interesting." Harry couldn't say creepy; he was sure that most people would find that offensive.

"You don't know the half of it." Draco said, itching his left forearm.

The two boys shifted their weight awkwardly until Teddy came out of the shop and Harry steered him away with a quick good-bye to Draco. "Teddy," Harry asked when they were a safe distance away from the shop, "Did you happen to see a girl in there wearing a black dress? She had pale skin and dark brown hair with blond highlights."

"Yeah," Teddy said absentmindedly. He was very focused on the mountain of ice cream in front of him.

"Keep an eye on her at Hogwarts, will you? I have a funny feeling about her." Harry said as he rubbed his scar and steered them towards the Weasley's joke shop.

When the day arrived to take Zyla to the train, no one could find her. They searched the whole house and couldn't locate her. It got to the point where the train would be leaving in twenty minutes. And she was still missing. Finally, Draco found her in the forest on the edge of the property, staring at a tree. "Zyla!" Draco ran up and hugged her, "What are you doing out here?"

"I don't want to go to school anymore." She whispered delicately, never taking her eyes off the tree.

"Why not?" Draco couldn't believe it. Just yesterday she was as excited as Zyla could get.

"What if I'm not in Slytherin? What if I'm not a good witch?" Draco could tell she was worried, even though the emotion never crossed her face. She just stayed stony and continues to stare at the tree.

"No matter what happens, we will all still love you." Draco said.

Zyla finally looked at him, "Even if I'm in Huffelpuff?"

"Even if you're in Huffelpuff." Draco hugged her and got her to come back to the house.

The family Apparated to the train station five minutes before the train left, so they hurriedly put Zyla's trunk in an empty compartment, then they all said their good-byes. Zyla waved to them as the giant scarlet engine pulled out of the station and headed towards Hogwarts. Zyla smoothed her dark purple tank top and jeans, then curled up with her head against the window and fell asleep. She slept almost the whole way there. She had woken just in time to change into her robes before she stepped off the train. A very large man with a lantern was yelling for the first years to follow him, so Zyla walked along with the crowd until they came to a stop in front of a huge, glossy lake.


	3. Chapter 3

Zyla was stretched out on her bed writing a letter with her new quill, but she couldn't concentrate. Her roommate, Petunia Parkinson, wouldn't shut up. Ever since she'd heard Zyla's last name, she went on and on about all her mother, Pansy, had told her about Draco. She kept trying to convince Zyla that she was almost Zyla's niece. Zyla just rolled her eyes and pulled out her spell book, flipped through it, and cast a silencing curse on the room when Petunia wasn't looking. All the girls could still hear each other, but Zyla couldn't hear them and that's just the way she wanted it. She went back to her letter.

_Dear Draco,_

_I like Hogwarts. It's nice here and really warm and cozy. I was sorted into Slytherin and I'm super happy about it. I could do without one of my roommates, though. Oh well. The journey to the castle was interesting after the train ride, they took us across a huge lake (I'd give anything to go swimming in it) in these boats, and then they led us into a big hall before we got into the dining hall and got sorted. The sorting hat's song was funny. It made us all laugh, but it turned weird once it was set on my head. I heard it whispering in my ear. It said, 'Oh dear. Where shall we put you? Slytherin could be good for you. It was good for your father, but he didn't take to good knowledge well. Of course, you know about that. Maybe Ravenclaw would be best for you, dear.' So I started panicking and begging the hat to put me in Slytherin. And it said, 'But the cleverness is here, too. So the best house for you is…' Then he yelled SLYTHERIN to the whole hall and I felt relieved. The food was sooooo good. I loved the pumpkin juice best. And the pudding was great! Now I'm curled up in my nice bed writing to you. I had to put a silencing charm on the room so I didn't have to hear my roommates blather (It's a fourth year charm! Can you believe I can do that already?) and Niigleria is staring at my quill. She's watching it wiggle and I think she might pounce at it… I haven't met any kids yet, but maybe I'll make some friends soon._

_Best wishes,_

_Zyla Bellatrix Malfoy._

Zyla folded the letter and wrote Draco's name on the front. She tied it around Niigleria's foot. She then lifted the silencing charm and stepped out of the dorm room. Zyla walked down the stairs to the common room and opened the window. It was level with the ground floor, so she had to stand on a chair to open it, but once she had pulled it open, she let Niigleria wiggled out of it, and then she closed the window and went back to her dorm. When she got back in, the girls were still chattering incessantly, so Zyla got ready for bed listening to the girls' conversation. They were talking about some of the first year Slytherin. Zyla rolled her eyes; she could care less. She crawled into bed and started to fall asleep. The girls were as well because their responses became farther and farther apart. Finally, all the girls were asleep and waiting for a new day.

Teddy woke up the next morning feeling great. He'd been sorted into Gryffindor just like his godfather and he had great roommates. Sure he hadn't met any friends yet, but it was only the second day, so he had time. Ted looked in the mirror in his dorm room and thought hard about his hair. He hadn't changed his style a whole lot recently. Mostly, he wore it like his Uncle Harry's hair, but he felt creative today. So he grabbed a hairstyle catalogue he bought from a local hair salon back home and flipped through it. Finally, he found a nice one. He changed his hair to a soft auburn color and let it shorten until it was short and spiky. He winked at his reflection and laughed. Then he concentrated and turned his eyes a bright emerald green to honor his godfather.

Teddy walked with his roommates to the Great Hall for breakfast and the boys were all chattering excitedly when Teddy spotted a violent shade of purple across the entryway in front of the Hall. In a sea of black robes, this was an attention getter. A first year girl was being reprimanded by Professor Longbottom, a tall man with dirt on his face. The girl had waist-long, dark brown hair that was being held back with a purple head band; her icy blond highlights shining bright against their dark background. She had an air of power around her and it was weird. She stood as if to say 'don't speak unless spoken too' and her face read nothing but cool composure.

Teddy told his roomies to go ahead without him, he'd catch up later. When they had left him, he set off across the entryway to the girl and the professor. "I understand how important it is to express yourself, but you can't change the uniform like this." The teacher said calmly, pointing at the big, purple belt that the girl was wearing outside her robes.

The girl said in an oddly calm voice, "Yes sir." Then she took the belt off and shoved it in her book bag.

Teddy hadn't realized how close to the two he'd gotten, until Professor Longbottom saw him and spoke up, "Hey there Teddy! Enjoying Hogwarts so far? How's your Uncle Harry?"

Teddy smiled and took his eyes off the hypnotizing girl. "Great. They send their love." Teddy said cheerily. The girl was now staring at him, as if he had interrupted something extremely important. She gave him an odd feeling. Now that she was looking dead-on at him, he realized that it was the same girl Uncle Harry had asked him to keep an eye on. Well, no use doing it stealthily, he thought, and then said, "Hi! I'm Teddy Lupin!"

He grinned at the girl and shot his hand out. She narrowed her liquid silver eyes, "Hi." She said very icily and without even a slight smile. Then she turned on her heels and walked off towards the Great Hall.

"What'd I do?" Teddy asked, turning to Professor Longbottom.

The tall professor just shrugged, "Girls are weird. But that was is kinda creepy." He said it offhandedly then said, "Give her some time. Maybe she's having a bad day. I did destroy her style." He smiled, clapped Teddy on the back, and headed into the Great Hall, leaving Teddy in the now empty entryway. Teddy set his jaw and decided that he was going to crack this ice princess if it killed him. Then, he went to breakfast, determined and confident in his abilities to succeed.

Zyla rolled her eyes as she went into the Great Hall. First, the teacher had scolded her and made her take her belt off, then the scruffy red-head tried to make friends with her. She stopped short. Why hadn't she been nicer? She could've made a friend back there. Oh well, plenty more kids in this school.

But even the prospect of making other friends didn't absolve her guilt. Draco had told her to be nice to kids because, as he put it, being nice earns more friends than being rude. She bit her lip and sat down at the end of the Slytherin table. There was bacon and eggs on her plate and she started eating, but when the Gryffindor who had been nice to her walked into the hall, she dropped her eyes and ate faster. As soon as she had gotten her timetable, she raced out of the Great Hall towards her first class: Charms with the Huffelpuffs.

Zyla threw herself into her school work all morning. She realized she had a knack for magic. She was picking up everything super fast and she was having fun with it. She had completely forgotten the auburn haired boy until he walked into her afternoon double Potions class and sat down right next to her. She sunk lower in her chair. This boy doesn't quit. Did she want a Gryffindor friend? She didn't know and thankfully, she didn't have time to find out, because the potions master walked in and started the lesson. The teacher talked about supplies for the first portion of the class, then he gave them a simple potion, told them to get in pairs, and set them to work.

Teddy grabbed her wrist as she went to stand. She turned to face him, reminding herself to keep her cool. "Wanna be partners?" He beamed at her. She surveyed his face, trying to get a reading on whether or not he was a trust-worthy potential friend.

Finally, she said, "Sure." and headed over to a work station.

They worked in silence for most of the class period, until their potion needed to simmer for ten minutes, then Teddy finally broke the silence, "So, what's your name?"

"Zyla. Zyla Malfoy." She said. She hoped her tone was nice enough, "I'm sorry I was so curt with you earlier."

Teddy just kept smiling, "Oh it's fine. I realized you probably weren't that happy that Professor Longbottom had made you take your belt off."

Zyla nodded and turned back to stir the potion. When she had finished, she said, "I don't much like this cauldron, I wanted the gold one. It was prettier."

"I just wanted the gold one because it looked cool. My uncle wouldn't let me get it, though, because the 'list didn't call for it'." He laughed, his emerald eyes laughing along with.

Zyla didn't smile. She hardly smiled. Not that she was incapable, she just didn't. She found many things funny, but she just didn't feel the urge to show it by smiling or laughing. The potion was finally done and the professor gave them an A. "Looks like we work really well together." Teddy said, "Maybe we should always pair off together."

"Sure." Zyla said as she packed up her stuff. Her voice was much cheerier now; she kind of liked this Teddy kid. The bell rang for dinner, and Zyla went up to the Great Hall. Maybe she had made a friend. She couldn't wait to tell Draco.


	4. Chapter 4

Back at Malfoy Manor, things were pretty quiet. It was October and the leaves were starting to fall in little spurts. Narcissa sat by the fire in the library, a letter from Zyla in her hands. Zyla was telling her all about Hogwarts and all the fun she was having. She'd even made a friend named Teddy. She wished Narcissa a happy Halloween and told her about the plans for the big banquet.

Narcissa smiled and put the letter away. She wasn't going to show Lucius. He was finally his normal self. She hated the torment this illegitimate child gave him; and she knew his behavior wasn't entirely his fault. Zyla reminded them both of her real father and every time she got angry, Narcissa's Dark Mark burned. The last eleven years had been hard for her. It wasn't as if she didn't want Zyla, she just didn't want the pain that it brought Lucius.

But now that Zyla was at Hogwarts, Lucius had returned to his normal, sweet talking self. "Cissa?" Lucius called from the hallway outside the library.

Narcissa smiled. He'd been calling her that since they started dating back at Hogwarts. He was the only person she'd allowed to call her that. She stood and put her book down, the letter tucked safely inside it, "In here, my love." She called back.

Lucius popped his head in the door, his long blond hair trailing perpendicular to the floor. Narcissa smiled, her blue eyes sparkled. "There you are dearest," Lucius said as he walked over and hugged her. He held her for a long time before he said, "I was just upstairs and I noticed something."

"What'd you notice?" Narcissa asked, confused.

"I noticed that our bedchamber looks lonely." He pulled back and smiled at her.

She smiled and rolled her eyes, "Classy." She said playfully and she took his hand and followed him upstairs.

Zyla looked out the window of the Herbology greenhouse at the lake. It was shining in the afternoon sun and the water was being rippled by the cool October wind. She was so antsy she could hardly sit still. All she wanted to do was run and jump straight into the lake. Clothes and all. She laughed at the prospect of her trying to swim in her Hogwarts robes.

"Why are you laughing, you dolt?" Teddy playfully nudged his best friend before going back to tending his plant, the name of which he'd already forgotten. He just kept poking it and following what the Gryffindor next to him was doing.

Zyla smirked and said, "I'm going to swim in the lake tonight. Are you in or out?"

Teddy's jaw dropped. "Are you mental?" He asked, using one of his Uncle Ron's favorite phrases, "Are you trying to get expelled?"

Zyla laughed her high, cold laugh, "No. Just trying to have some fun. You know, live a little." She quickly finished up with her plant, and went to give it to Mr. Longbottom. When she got back to the work table, Teddy was still hopelessly poking his plant. She rolled her eyes, "You really expect to get results out of poking it like that?"

"No," Teddy sighed, "But I don't know what else to do. How come you're so good at everything? I've never even seen you pick up a book, yet you have the highest marks of our class."

"Magic just kind of, comes easily to me. As if I was born to be good at it." Zyla said, sitting back in her chair and drawing doodles in her notebook. She was currently drawing a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. She'd seen the design once on her mother's arm and it intrigued her, almost called to her, and she'd been obsessed with drawing it ever since. She couldn't remember all the details, so she just kept drawing it over and over again until she got it right. Finally, one day last summer, she got it perfect, and she sketched it in every notebook she owned. She knew that Teddy desperately wanted to see what she was sketching all the time, but since she always refused to show him, he'd given up, "Now back to the afore mentioned subject." Zyla said as she shaded in the mouth of the hissing snake, "Are you coming swimming with me tonight or what?"

Teddy considered her suggestion with a hesitant look. He'd given up on his plant and he turned to face her now. The plant, refusing to be ignored, was slowly and stealthily wrapping its vines around Teddy's arms and waist, but Teddy didn't notice and Zyla didn't feel like telling him. The plant wouldn't hurt him, so she wanted to see how far it'd get before he'd notice. Teddy obviously didn't want to get in trouble, though he repeatedly told her about how his uncles and aunt had spent their fair share of time in detention in their Hogwarts days, so it's not like he'd get in trouble, "Fine, count me in. I'll meet you by the edge of the lake at midnight. GAHH!" Teddy yelled, he'd finally noticed the plant shimmying up his arms and torso. Zyla laughed so hard at the flailing Teddy, that she fell off her chair and her notebook went skittering across the floor, her drawing face up.

Mr. Longbottom, coming over to rescue Teddy from the vines, stopped short when he saw Zyla's notebook. He picked up the sketch and gasped in shock. He then grabbed Zyla by the arm and said, "You're coming with me young lady to the headmistress's office." Mr. Longbottom dragged her along, not telling her what he was taking her in for. Finally, they had reached Headmistress McGonagall's office.

Professor McGonagall invited them in and told Zyla to have a seat in the chair in front of her desk. "Now, dear, why are we here today, hmm?" The Headmistress looked over her glasses at Zyla, waiting for an answer, but when she just shrugged, McGonagall turned to Professor Longbottom for clarification, "Professor?"

"Ms. Malfoy was drawing this," Professor Longbottom dropped Zyla's notebook onto the table and Headmistress McGonagall gasped, "It's His mark. And I have a pretty good idea who taught it to her." He glared at Zyla, who still had no idea why she was in trouble.

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and thanked Professor Longbottom, then sent him back to his class. Once he'd gone, the Headmistress rubbed the bridge of her nose, and said, "Do you know what this is, Miss…"

"Zyla. Zyla Malfoy. And no, ma'am, I don't what it is. I also don't know why I'm here." Zyla spoke in her calm voice and smoothed her features.

McGonagall picked up the paper and stared at the symbol that still trickled cold fear through her veins, though its original artist had been dead for at least eleven years. "Zyla, this is the Dark Mark and it's not a symbol that you should draw so freely. It's the mark of a very dark wizard who killed many people. Where did you see it?"

Not wanting to get her mother in trouble, she lied, "I can't remember. I saw it a long time ago. I didn't know." Zyla kept her features smooth and her voice calm.

The Headmistress closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Just go to dinner. And don't let me have to talk to you about this again. Stop drawing this symbol." She tore the page out of Zyla's notebook and handed it back to her.

Zyla took her notebook and showed herself out of the Headmistress's office. Zyla rolled her eyes. Draco told her about all the enemies he'd made at Hogwarts, and obviously, those two teachers were some of them. Seriously, how can a drawing be so bad? She just shook her head and went down to the Great Hall. Once she got there, Teddy ran up to her and asked her what'd happened. She told him it was nothing, a simple misunderstanding, and that she'd see him later for their midnight swim.

When the moon was high above Hogwarts Castle, Teddy snuck out of the Gryffindor Tower and stole through the shadows out to the grounds. When he reached the lake, Zyla was way ahead of him. She was standing on the edge of the lake, her blond highlights gleaming bright in the full moon. She was wearing a long shirt and when she pulled it off, it revealed a pink bikini with white polka-dots and her pale skin glowed as bright as her highlights. Teddy watched as she walked straight into the water and went under. She swam out to middle of the lake and then realized Teddy was standing there, "Get out here, scaredy-cat!" She taunted.

Teddy tore off his shirt and ran into the water. The iciness of it hit him hard. How did she stand it? She was such a weird girl. Teddy swam out to her and they swam around the lake for thirty minutes before they collapsed on the shore, exhausted. "That was fun. I'm glad I didn't back out." Teddy said, breathing hard to catch his breath. The chilly night air was giving him goose bumps. Zyla nodded, yawned, and lay back on the grass to look up at the stars. Suddenly, a long grass snake slithered onto her stomach and Teddy jumped up. "Zyla, don't move! There's a huge snake on you!" Teddy fumbled for his wand.

Zyla just laughed and told him to chill. She picked up the snake and draped it around her neck. Then she murmured something in a strange, hissing language. "What the heck, Zyla? What'd you just say?"

"Did the cold water do something to your brain so that you can't speak English anymore?" Zyla asked, petting the green and brown snake slowly as it eyed Teddy suspiciously, "I was just saying hi to the snake."

"Zyla, you weren't speaking English, you were speaking some kind of hissing language. I couldn't understand a word you said."

"Well, how can I speak another language without knowing it?" Zyla looked confused and deep in thought.

"I'll look into it," Teddy said, which just meant he'd write a letter to his Aunt Hermione first thing in the morning, "For now, what's the snake say?"

"She says you need to calm down, she won't bite you because I said so. I think I'll keep her." Zyla said thoughtfully.

"Well, what are you going to name her?" Teddy asked, sitting back down.

"I'm not sure. I'm not good with names." Zyla pulled the snake off her shoulders and placed it in her lap. The snake was as long as Zyla was tall and it had the most piercing yellow eyes Teddy had ever seen.

Pulling the first name out of his head, Teddy said, "What about Nagini? It was the name of a snake from a story my uncle told me when I was little. I can't remember what happened in the story, and Aunt Ginny got mad when she found out Uncle Harry told me it. She said it was too mature for me. All I can remember is that the snake and some other people died. I liked the name of the snake, so I retained it."

Zyla rolled the name around on her tongue, "Nagini." As soon as she said it, she felt a surge of power run through her. "I like it." She hissed at the snake and Teddy swore he saw the snake nod. "Alright, her name is Nagini. You know, these snakes can grow to be two times the length of an adult male." Zyla kept stroking Nagini as the two first years talked. Soon, they got too tired to even stand, so they drug themselves off to bed. Teddy collapsed in his bed and sighed deep. He wished he could remember the rest of the story…

Weeks later, in the middle of November, Teddy got a letter back from his Aunt Hermione. She'd written a three page letter response to his one sentence 'What's it mean when a person can speak to snakes?'. She wrote everything she knew about Parseltongue and everything she had researched specifically for him. Apparently, only the heir of Slytherin could speak Parseltongue and Hermione warned Teddy heavily about whoever he was writing about. She thought that only bad could come from it. Teddy just waved the warning off and went to tell Zyla about the letter.

"Parseltongue…" Zyla said thoughtfully, "That sounds awesome!" She was excited and she pulled Nagini closer and stroked her head. Nagini was shaking her head slowly, her way of showing happiness.

Teddy and Zyla were sitting in the library by the fire. No one was bothering them due to the fact that Zyla had smuggled in the large snake. "Yeah, it does. You can talk to snakes and they can talk back." Teddy had left out the part about being the heir of Slytherin; family was a touchy subject with Zyla. He also left out the part about Hermione being worried about it; she didn't need to know that. It was getting close to curfew, and Zyla was starting to get tired, so the pair said goodnight and went back upstairs. Nagini was really growing on Teddy. Yeah, she was still a little creepy, but she was beyond smart, so they coexisted peacefully.

Teddy crawled into bed and closed his eyes. He sighed into the darkness and let his mind wander. It kept going back to the fact that Christmas vacation was only four weeks away and he'd get to see his Uncle Harry again. But the downside of that was that Zyla would have to go back home to her family. She had confided in him that she didn't feel all that welcome in her home. Teddy drifted off to sleep worrying about Zyla.


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas vacation came fast and Zyla woke up that morning with mixed feelings. She was happy that she got a break from school and she couldn't wait to see Draco and her mom and to unwrap her presents, but she was sad to leave the grand castle and Teddy and she was nervous to go back to her dad. The looks he gave her, as if her very existence was extremely painful, they hurt her.

Zyla packed up all her stuff in her trunk and hauled them down to the Grand Entryway with everyone else who was going home for the holidays. Looking around, she tried to spot Teddy in the crowd people. Trying to find Teddy was always difficult, due to the fact that he was a metamorphous and his looks changed every day, but today was easy because his hair was a violent shade of blue. "Hey!" He said, a little too cheerily for the time of morning.

"Hi," Zyla said, then commenting on his appearance, "So what's the reasoning?" He always had a reason for the look he chose that day.

"Well," Teddy smiled as he pointed at his hair, "Today it's blue because its winter and blue makes me think of cold. And the eyes are gray because I'm going to miss you." He blushed at his last sentence.

Zyla's cold eyes softened and she thanked him for his friendship. Filch the caretaker came running down the stairs, late to escorting the kids down to the train. He didn't stop moving when he got to the front of the mob, instead he just yelled over his shoulder for them to follow him. So everyone picked up their trunks and went down to the train.

The Hogwarts Express was warm and cozy on that winter day and it lulled Teddy to sleep within a matter of minutes of leaving and that left Zyla alone to her thoughts. She was dreading getting off the train, but excited at the same time. She flip-flopped back and forth between the two emotions the whole train ride and by the time the train pulled into King's Cross, she was too tired to worry about it anymore. She said good-bye to Teddy on the train, and then drug her trunk out onto the platform.

Standing a little ways down the platform was Draco, Narcissa, and Lucius Malfoy. Seeing her family naturally drowned out her fears and she ran to them. Sure, her dad wasn't the world's best father, but he was still family. Zyla ran into her mom's waiting arms and buried her face into Narcissa's hair. "I missed you, mommy." She said, and she meant it. She hadn't realized how much it was true until that moment.

Draco hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. He smiled brightly down at her and she jumped on his back to Apparate back to the house. Before they left, Draco caught Harry Potter's eye from across the platform. He nodded at him in acknowledgement and Harry nodded back before corralling the kids around him. Then the Malfoys Disapparated back to Malfoy Manor.

Teddy lugged his trunk off the train and immediately spotted his godfather. Uncle Harry's black hair was untidy and stuck up in odd directions per usual and he smiled big when he saw Teddy. Little James Sirius Potter was running rampant around Harry's legs, tapping his little brother, Albus Severus, as he ran past him. Albus couldn't walk a whole lot yet, so each time he tried to catch his older brother and fell, he got more and more frustrated. And James's incessant tapping made him angrier, until little Albus Severus burst into tears at Harry's feet.

Teddy dropped him trunk in front if his godfather and picked Albus up, who immediately stopped crying. "Well," Harry asked, "How's Hogwarts?"

"It's great Uncle Harry! You're right; there is a lot of stuff to learn." Teddy beamed and put the squirming Albus down, "We should have my best friend over sometime!"

Harry smiled, his green eyes sparkling through his wire-rimmed glasses, "What's his name?"

Teddy laughed, "Her name is Zyla. She's Lucius Malfoy's daughter."

Harry laughed a short, disbelieving laugh, "There is so much irony in that. I couldn't get along with Lucius's son for 7 years, and you befriend his daughter in 4 months." He shook his head and smiled again. Looking out over the platform, Harry caught Draco's eye, his little sister on his back, and returned his nod, "Ready to go home? Your Aunt Ginny made turkey for dinner."

Teddy smiled, nodded, and picked his trunk back up. He grabbed Albus and Harry picked up James and the group of boys Disapparated back to Harry's house in Godric's Hollow. The house was the restored home that Harry's parents had lived and died in, but expanded a bit to accommodate everyone. Running into the house, Teddy dropped his trunk in the front entryway and scrambled to find his Aunt.

Ginevra Potter was in the kitchen cooking a turkey, the utensils moving on their own accord. She turned when she heard Teddy enter and she smiled at him. Her face glowed and she radiated happiness. Teddy went to hug his Aunt Ginny, but it was difficult due to the fact that her 6 months pregnant stomach got in the way. Teddy laughed and sat down to a hot meal with his family. It was good to be home.

Zyla sat on her bed, pondering the events since she'd gotten home from school. Lucius had changed since she'd last seen him. Instead of being distant, he got to be harsher. The looks he gave her made her skin crawl and the way he phrased things made it seem like everything was her fault. Even on Christmas morning, he hadn't bothered to put on a happy face. Draco had given her a lovely heart-shaped locket with a picture of him and her together in it, Narcissa had given her a new purple winter coat that had black fur around the edges, but Zyla could tell that Lucius wasn't happy to give her a present. She had received a nice set of purple earmuffs to match her new coat, but Zyla knew that her mother had picked them out, wrapped them, and signed Lucius' name on the card. She wasn't stupid.

Nagini came and coiled herself around Zyla's waist. Zyla had failed to tell her parents about the snake because she knew that Nagini was shy and didn't like to be around a lot of people. Zyla absent-mindedly stroked the green and brown scales of the snake that had doubled in size since Zyla had started feeding her left-overs from the Great Hall. "Zyla, honey," Narcissa called from the bottom of the stairs, "Breakfast."

Zyla spoke in Parseltongue to Nagini, telling her to uncoil herself and that she'd be right back. Then, she flew down the stairs to breakfast, the heart locket bouncing on her chest as she went. Lucius was at one head of the table, and Draco at another. Astoria and Scorpius were on one side of Draco and Narcissa was opposite Scorpius, leaving an empty seat next to Draco for Zyla. She took her seat silently and picked up her fork, when Scorpius spoke up, "Dad!" He wailed. It was the only word he knew and he used it for everything. Since he was staring at his plate, not his father, the family ignored the comment and it fell silent again.

After picking at her eggs for quite some time, Zyla broke the silence. She had made herself a vow that she would win her father's affections before she went back to school in two days, "Dad?" She spoke silently, Scorpius echoing her in a much louder voice, "I- I can conjure a full-bodied patronus. It's a phoenix. My teachers say I'm far more advanced than the rest of my year."

She waited eagerly for his response. Surely that had to be impressive enough. Lucius just looked at her, made a non-committal grunt, and went back to his eggs. Zyla, slightly crushed, looked down at her plate. She wasn't hungry any more. Draco, seeing her wilt a little, said, "That's great Zyla! I can't wait until you're old enough to show me!"

"I bet it's absolutely brilliant." Narcissa chimed in.

"Best first-year I've ever met." Astoria commented, trying to aid everyone else in cheering Zyla up.

Zyla mumbled a 'thank you' to them, but her mind was elsewhere. How could she impress him? She needed a skill. Something no one else could do. And that's when it hit her. Parseltongue. "I'll be right back, she said and she ran up to her room.

Narcissa kicked Lucius under the table after she'd gone, "What is wrong with you?" She asked.

Lucius winced at the sudden pain in his ankle, "Nothing. I'm just trying to eat my eggs." He couldn't stand much longer of this. Every day the girl grew more like her father and he hated that. He saw The Dark Lord in her every second and it was driving him mad. The man who had pushed him around, threatened his family, slapped him, and disgraced him for years was now living in his house again. Well, he might as well be because at the rate she growing, she'd be Tom Riddle within the year. But, maybe Narcissa was right, maybe he was the only thing driving Zyla to it.

Lucius looked at his wife. She was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Ever since that day in the Transfiguration hallway when he'd finally won her over in their fourth year, he refused to be away from her for one minute. Except that day when Zyla was conceived. He'd wanted to speak out. He'd wanted to protest. But his heart was so broken and his mind was so shocked, that his motor skills stopped working. The fact that Voldemort had raped his wife, and had TOLD him about it before hand, had shocked him to the core. He was still numb to this day. A small part of him was still numb and angry as he had been that day outside the drawing room. He refused to enter that room ever since.

Zyla came pounding down the stairs again and entered the kitchen, a giant green and brown snake draped across her shoulders. The whole table gasped and Astoria pulled Scorpius into her lap, "She won't hurt you, promise." Zyla said. She moved her plate and set the huge snake down on the table.

Lucius stood, and said, "No, Zyla. Get that off the table." He was starting to get frightened, the snake looked fierce.

"This is Nagini, everyone." As soon as Zyla said the name, Lucius was instantly transported back 11 years. Back into the very drawing room he avoided.

_A woman was dangling over the table, suspended by nothing but magic. She was the former Muggle studies teacher at Hogwarts and she was going to die soon. Lucius avoided looking at her at all costs, but it was hard to block out her soft whimpers. Voldemort sat at the head of the table, surveying his Death Eaters. No one dared move a muscle. There was a soft hissing coming from the huge snake that was draped over the back of The Dark Lord's chair. "Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort said in his calm, cold voice and the body of the woman hit the table with a thud. "Nagini," Voldemort continued, "Dinner." And the snake slithered forward across the table. Lucius didn't turn away fast enough. The snake violently lunged at the woman's body and sank its teeth in._

Zyla's command of, "Watch this," brought Lucius back to reality. She was staring the snake down hard, concentrating. Lucius realized he was still standing and he turned to leave, but before he could, he heard her speak. She spoke in Parseltongue and the snake nodded at her. That was the final straw.

Lucius stomped over to Zyla and grabbed her by the arm. He roughly pulled her around to face him, "NEVER AGAIN! NEVER DO THAT AGAIN IN MY HOUSE, YOU INSILANT LITTLE GIRL!" He roared, and he slapped her. She fell out of his grasp and onto the ground. Narcissa sprung up out of her chair, but was blocked by him, "Get rid of that bloody snake and never say her name again!"

Zyla's eyes flooded with tears and she beat away Draco's protective arms. She ran from the room and upstairs to her bedroom. Draco followed close behind, scooping the snake up as he went, and Astoria took Scorpius and disappeared deeper into the house, leaving Lucius and Narcissa alone, "How dare you." Narcissa said, "How dare you touch her. She thinks you're her father. How dare you." He was glaring hard at him.

He stared to speak, but she cut him off, "No. I've had it with this. Either you shape up, or I'm moving out."

Lucius was dumb-struck. He couldn't bear the thought of Narcissa leaving him. He dropped his head. He was truly sorry, but he didn't know how to make her believe it. They stood there, staring at each other for minutes on end. The ice in Narcissa's glare was penetrating deep wells in Lucius. He opened his mouth to apologize, when a rage-filled yell sounded from upstairs, "Lucius F****** Malfoy!" Zyla stomped down the stairs and into the kitchen, her grey eyes had turned blood red and her blond highlights seemed to be glowing violently.

She drew her wand in a quick flick of the wrist and pointed it at Lucius's neck, backing him into a wall. She stood there, rage filling every pore in her body and Lucius felt he was staring at Voldemort himself again, "How dare you hit me? How dare you hit the daughter of another man?" He voice was dangerously calm, just like that of her father's. Lucius was terrified. She knew and now he going to pay for it, "How can you live with yourself, Lucius?" She spat his name out in the same way her father used to.

Her wand was getting hotter and the tip was starting to burn him. Lucius dropped his eyes and said, "I don't know." It was the same scene as 11 years ago in the boat house. He was truly scared for what was going to happen to him. Maybe she'd kill him. Finish the work her father intended to do. Terror shone in his eyes as he silently pleaded for his life.

"Never try to claim as your own again. If you do, you will pay for it." She pulled her wand away and whirled around. She went back upstairs and slammed her door.

Draco was hovering in the threshold of the room, torn between going after Zyla and watching his father get his karma. Lucius turned on his son, "You told her?" he could hardly get the words out.

"Yes. She deserved to know. She deserved to know that her father didn't hate her. Just some man who can't grow up does."

"Me grow up?" Lucius was angry now, "You need to grow up. It wasn't your right to tell her."

"But she needed to know." Narcissa was backing Draco up now. Lucius looked from his wife to his son, both had turned on him and left him to drown in the mess he had created, "What all did you say to her?" Narcissa asked.

"I just told her that Dad wasn't hers too. That her dad was a wizard named Lord Voldemort and that Mum was raped by him." Draco said, very matter-of-factly, "She knows the truth now, and I wash my hands of this situation." He disappeared to go find his wife and son and a faint 'pop' was heard as they Disapparated.

Narcissa left the room. She didn't look at her husband as he pleaded with her to stay. Zyla refused to come out of her room until Draco took her back to King's Cross two days later.


	6. Chapter 6

When Zyla got back to Hogwarts, the first thing she did was go straight to the library and checked out a book about her father. She needed to know everything about him. She then went to her dorm and curled up with the book. She read to all hours of the morning, until her eyes hurt and she couldn't focus anymore. Her dad had been killed by Harry Potter. Teddy's Uncle Harry. Her best friend's godfather. The thought made her head spin and she tossed in an angry fit until she collapsed into a strange dream.

Parseltongue was ringing through her head and she couldn't hear anything else other than, "Awake! Awake! Kill! Kill! KILL! Girl will be useful! Awake! I'm awake!" The cool hiss was terrifying and Zyla couldn't figure out what was going on.

She awoke with a jolt. Sweat was dripping down her face and her hair stuck to her forehead in strands. It was just a dream. A creepy dream, but a dream none the less. She got up and got dressed for the day. It was Saturday and Teddy had promised her that they'd hang out, so she went to breakfast cheered up a bit. After a warm meal, Zyla had forgotten all about her dad and Lucius and her dream. She ran into Teddy in the hall and he got excited about a story his Uncle told him, so he dragged her along to a girls' lavatory on the second floor.

"Uncle Harry says there's a ghost in here that's a pain in the butt, so let's go bug it. He also said there's a Chamber in here built by Salazar Slytherin and only a parselmouth can open it. So let's open it!" Teddy said as they burst into the bathroom.

And sure enough, as soon as they stepped inside the bathroom, the ghost jumped out of her stall and began to yell at them to get out of her bathroom, but she stopped short when she saw Teddy. He had worn his hair in an untidy black mess and he had vivid green eyes and was taller today. A spitting image of his Uncle, "Harry?" The ghost asked.

"No, Myrtle. It's not. I just look like him today." Teddy beamed.

"Darn," Myrtle whined, "I thought maybe he'd come back to visit me. No one comes to visit me. But I thought that maybe he was different, Harry Potter."

At the mention of Teddy's Uncle's full name, something inside seemed to take over Zyla. She repressed the urge to lunge at Teddy. It took all her strength to block out the hissing, cold voice that screamed in her head, "DO IT! KILL HIM! KIIIIILLLLL HIIIIMMMMM!" Zyla fought it and fought it and fought it, until all she saw was the black behind her eyelids.

Teddy stood there in front of his collapsed friend, not knowing what to do. Then, when his good sense kicked in, he ran for a teacher. When he finally found one, the professor rushed back to the restroom and gathered Zyla up in his arms. After Zyla had been checked into the infirmary and Teddy had told the story at least ten different times, he went up to his common room and collapsed into a chair. Pulling out a fresh piece of parchment, Teddy began a letter to her Uncle.

_Dear Uncle Harry,_

_I'm doing well, everything here is great. Except the fact that Zyla just fainted. We were just talking to Moaning Myrtle and next thing I knew, she was unconscious on the ground. I'm scared, I don't what to do. I really care about her and I'm confused and worried._

_Love you,_

_Teddy Lupin_

Teddy sent the letter on its way, and then crawled into bed. It was only noon, but he didn't feel like moving or doing anything. He just wanted to lay there and worry about Zyla. Zyla was released around dinner time and after the meal, Teddy pulled her along to the library where they could talk in peace, "What happened?"

"I don't know. One minute we're talking to Myrtle, the next minute I'm waking up in the hospital wing." Teddy could tell she was withholding information from him, but he decided that with Zyla, it's best not to press the issue.

"So how was your holiday?"

"Oh Teddy it was terrible!" Zyla looked miserable, "Lucius hit me! He smacked me right across the face and then I threatened him!"

"Go Zyla!" Teddy was impressed.

"NO! It's not something to be proud of! Teddy, I wanted to kill him. I was so mad. I was mostly mad because I found out that I'm not his daughter and he had the nerve to smack another man's daughter!"

"Wait, then who's your real dad?" Teddy was intrigued.

"I don't know. See, mum was raped, and I guess that's sort of the reason Lucius seems like he hates me. Cause he's really big on protecting mum."

"Yeah, that seems like that'd do it." Teddy was disappointed that Zyla didn't know who it was, and mad that Lucius had the gall to hit her. He'd have to write to Uncle Harry about it.

Zyla didn't know why she had lied to Teddy about her dad and she didn't know why she'd withheld information from him about her fainting. Maybe it was because she wanted to figure everything out herself, first, and then tell him. She was rolling the incidents form break and earlier that day around in her head until she passed out from exhaustion. But sleep wasn't peaceful either, for it brought more nightmares.


	7. Chapter 7

Teddy woke up on the morning on Easter holidays energized and ready to see his godfather again. And he was excited because Zyla was coming home with him to Uncle Harry's. Teddy rushed down to the carriages and threw his trunk into the one Zyla had reserved for them, "Good morning!" He was bubbling over.

"Hello Teddy." Zyla said, just as calm as always. Her dark brown hair streaked with blond was pulled up into a high ponytail and her cold grey eyes were watching Teddy with the nervous stress that she had developed ever since winter break.

"Hey Zy! Watch this!" Teddy concentrated until he had sprouted a short crop of platinum blond hair. His features became more pointed and his eyes turned the same shade of grey as Zyla's. Draco Malfoy's head had sprouted on the body of Teddy Lupin. Zyla giggled. It was the only thing that made her laugh; seeing the mature face of her older brother on an eleven year-olds body. Teddy laughed too and let his features go back to the wavy brown hair and pink irises that he'd selected for the day.

The two laughed and joked the whole train ride back to King's Cross, but when they stepped out onto the platform, Zyla became reserved again. Harry Potter loaded the two kids' trunks into the muggle car and they all drove back to the Potter cottage.

Zyla's guest room was small, but quaint and after Teddy showed her to it, she requested to be alone for a bit. So Teddy wandered down to the kitchen to find something to eat. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were nowhere to be seen, so Teddy went straight to the cookie jar. He had his hands on a chocolate chip cookie when, "Step away from the cookie jar, Teddy Lupin," came from behind him. Aunt Ginny was armed with a wooden spoon and was scolding him, "Dinner will be ready soon."

Teddy just rolled his eyes and said, "Yes Aunt Ginny." Then he went into the living room and flopped down on the couch to wait for Zyla to come downstairs.

Dinnertime came and Zyla finally came down. They had a delicious meal of turkey and green beans and Uncle Harry shared story after story about his time at Hogwarts. Then after dinner Ginny went upstairs to tuck the kids in while Harry, Teddy and Zyla curled up on the couch, continuing conversation from earlier.

"So then Hermoine, quick as lightning, spun around and landed her fist right in the middle of Draco's face!" Harry said, and Teddy and he burst into a spiral of laughter.

Zyla on the other hand, just glared, "I'm not amused." She said coldly.

"Aw, c'mon, Zyla! Lighten up!" Teddy clapped her on the back but she refused to follow his command.

Instead, she stood and said, "I should probably go feed Nagini."

Harry Potter stopped laughing, "What did you say?" He hadn't heard that name in years.

"I said that I should probably go feed my snake, Nagini." Zyla answered, still annoyed with his story.

Harry just blinked, "Uncle Harry, she's a parselmouth!" Teddy exclaimed, obviously thinking this was the coolest thing ever.

"Why did you choose that name?" Harry stood up and looked down at Zyla, unbelieving. His scar was starting to prickle.

"I told her it, Uncle Harry. It's really the only thing I remember from that story you told me when I was little." Teddy stood, slightly afraid of what was happening.

"That snake, the one I told you about, belonged to most evil man ever," Harry turned to look at his godson, "Lord Voldemort." A strange hissing noise rang out. Harry whipped his head around to see Zyla standing stiff as a board, her eyes rolled back in her head, in the center of the room. Her mouth was moving and the hissing was coming from her.

"_How DARE you speak the name of the great and powerful Dark Lord, you filthy little half-blood?" _Zyla screeched in parseltongue.

Harry stepped back, confused and afraid. Where was his wand? He grabbed Teddy and shoved him onto the couch, standing between his godson and the girl. He'd located his wand and was about to fire a stunning spell, when Zyla relaxed and was normal again, "Zyla, what was that?" Harry demanded, still pointing his wand at the girl.

"What was what?" Zyla cocked her head, obviously confused.

"You just—didn't react well when I said the name of the dark wizard." Harry said, trying to avoid saying the name.

"Oh. I hoped my shock hadn't shown much. He's a touchy subject with me." Zyla hung her head.

"But why, Zyla?" Teddy asked, stepping past Harry and placing his arm around his friend.

"Because I found out over the winter break that Lord Voldemort is my father."

Harry dropped his wand in shock. The spawn of Tom Riddle was standing in his house and he didn't know what to do.

Zyla looked as if she was about to cry, "My mother was raped by him seven months before he died. Then I was born and raised to think that that horrid person, Lucius, was my father."

Harry backed away, slowly at first, then faster and faster until he was sprinting out the back door of the house and running as fast as could away from the cottage. He had to go somewhere to think. He had to speak to someone. Then he turned on the spot and vanished, only to re-appear with a 'pop' outside the home of Ron and Hermoine Weasley.

Zyla ran upstairs and locked herself in. She didn't trust herself around Teddy or his uncle right now. Whatever had happened to her in the living room was scary to say the least. As soon as she'd heard her father's name, something inside her, the same something that had shown itself in the bathroom, snapped and sprung forth. She couldn't stop it and all she could do was watch, as if from a distance. She threw herself down on her bed and cried until she fell asleep. She didn't want to hurt anyone.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry Apparated back to the cottage at 3 AM. As much help as Hermoine and Ron had tried to be, they couldn't think of any answers. They'd just comforted Harry for as long as they could, before Harry had leave. If he had stayed any longer, he'd have passed out from exhaustion. When he arrived back the cottage, everyone was asleep, except for Ginny. She'd waited up for him and after he'd reassured her that he was fine, just visiting his friends, then both curled up in bed, exhausted.

Sleep came immediately, but didn't stay. Harry was awoken again by muffled cries at 5 AM. He sat up, put his glasses on, and looked around. Two figures were in the corner of the room; one he recognized as Ginny, bound and gagged, and the other had their back to Harry, "What the devil is going here?" Harry yelled at the stranger.

The stranger turned and Harry recognized it as Zyla. The moonlight was illuminating her fully now and Harry could see that her eyes had turned blood red and her pupils were slits. His scar was burning. "Harry Potter." She said in the same voice her father had used, but Harry could tell it wasn't her. It was her father. Somehow he'd possessed her and was trying to finish off Harry. Possession! Suddenly it made sense. If you get to emotionally attached to a Horcrux, the soul inside could posses you. Zyla was a Horcrux.

Harry leapt for his wand, but not before Zyla's surprisingly strong hands were wrapped around his throat. Harry struggled and gasped for breath, his glasses were knocked askew and all he could make out were the piecing red eyes. Ginny was screaming through her gag, but it came out as a soft whimper.

Harry finally pushed Voldemort off him and grabbed his wand. The Dark Lord had Ginny's wand trained on Harry and Harry aimed his wand right back, "Leave her alone, Tom. You've lost, it's over. Have some compassion for your daughter. Don't kill her just so you can lose again."

"No one calls me Tom!" Voldemort's high, cold hiss rang from Zyla's throat and he threw a killing curse at Harry.

Harry dodged it and threw a stunning spell back. Voldemort side-stepped it with ease and threw several more curses at Harry.

Harry yelled, "Expelliarmus!" and Tom's wand flew away from him. Then Harry whispered, "I'm sorry, Zyla," and yelled, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A flash of green hit Zyla square in the face and the light ricocheted across the room. Harry's scar immediately stopped burning and he rushed over to untie his wife. Ginny was crying and she whispered, "What was that?"

"Zyla was a Horcrux. The only one I didn't know about. Probably made at the last minute." Harry said and he went over to Zyla's limp body.

He laid a hand on her shoulder and she squirmed. Harry jumped back and kept his wand trained as Zyla sat up, "What just happened?" She turned to face him. There was a small, crescent-moon shaped scar on her cheek and her grey eyes were innocent and oblivious.

"Zyla, you had a piece of very dark magic inside you that I had to destroy." Harry lowered his wand, "You're safe now."

Zyla flung her arms around Harry and began to cry. Harry just stroked her hair and let her cry until Zyla fell asleep, and then he took her back to her room and laid her in bed. Harry returned to the master bedroom and took a quill and some parchment.

Draco Malfoy was sitting at the table at Malfoy Manor; his home now that Astoria and him had moved in last month. 5 year-old Scorpius was playing the end of his father's robes when a snowy owl landed on the breakfast table. Draco recognized it as Harry Potter's owl, Hedwig Two. Curious as to why Harry Potter would be writing him while on vacation, Draco opened the letter and the read the contents. Harry had told him everything that had happened the night before and once Draco got to the end of the letter ('I successfully killed Voldemort's soul that was attaching itself to you sister, but unfortunately, it left a scar on Zyla's cheek'), he was furious. He knew he shouldn't have let his baby sister out of his sight for so long. Draco stood, Set Scorpius in his mother's arms, then turned on the spot and disappeared.

Harry Potter heard a knock on the door and he went to open it. Draco was fuming on his porch. Before harry could react, Draco had pinned him against the wall in the hallway; wand pointed at his face, "You tried to kill my sister?" He yelled in anger and disbelief.

"Now, Draco, just relax," Harry didn't feel like pushing his luck like he did in school. Draco and he were currently rivaling for the Head Auror position at the Ministry. Draco was good, and Harry didn't have his wand with him, "You've got to understand that she had Voldemort attached to her soul!"

"But SHE was also in there! Fighting to get out!" Draco was seething; his white-blond hair seemed to be glowing.

"Draco Malfoy!" Ginny reprimanded from the end of the hall, "You can't just come in here and attack my family! This is MY home!" She stormed down the hall and rapped Draco smartly across the knuckles with her wooden spoon.

Draco winced, but then fixed her with a glare, "Shut up, ginger! He tried to kill my sister!"

"And your sister tried to kill me. And my husband. And my godson at one point." Ginny glared right back. Harry had to admit, this woman had nerve, "The point of the matter is that Zyla is alive, she's back to normal, and if you release my husband, you can stay for breakfast." She pointed the spoon threateningly at him.

Draco released Harry and stepped back, holding out his hand, "Sorry. She's my sister, I have to be protective."

Harry shook his hand and said, "It's OK, I understand. Hungry?"

Draco nodded and Ginny led the two men into the kitchen where Zyla, Teddy, James, Albus, and baby Lily were sitting. Zyla waved and said, "Draco!" when she saw her older brother and Draco hugged her and sat down next to her.

Harry sat at the head of table and looked around. Such an odd group. And who would've ever guessed that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy could sit down next to each other at a table and eat in peace? I guess it just took two kids to bring together old enemies. Harry smiled and passed Draco some eggs, but not before he whispered, "Wanna duel later?"

Draco winked and said, "You sure you want your kids to see you get butt kicked?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Harry smiled and the two men laughed, "And PS, you're going down. I will be Head Auror."

Draco just nudged him, "You're on."

The End


End file.
